Trolley touts outside Mumbai airport make passengers see red

It seems various groups of people are bent on making your flying experience in and out of Mumbai a nightmare just so that they can make a quick buck First there were the touts at T2 who were making passengers shell out 20 nearly Rs 1300 for using a trolley and then there were the auto drivers who were charging Rs 50Rs 100 extra as an lsquoentry feersquo for the international terminalCaught on Camera Touts at Mumbai airport demand USD 20 for a trolleyThis tout was spotted accosting a passenger outside the domestic airport yesterday PicsNimesh DaveNow it has emerged that the trolley tout mafia has been operational at the domestic airport as well albeit in a different avatar Instead of hiding trolleys as the touts at T2 did their counterparts at the domestic airportrsquos departure section target unsuspecting passengers who get off from cars and tell them that it is mandatory to use their services to get a trolley and a drop from them to the departure gate barely a minute away The cost for this lsquoservicersquo Rs 100Rs 500 When midday visited the T1 terminal we saw these touts making valiant efforts to convince people to shell out money for what is clearly an unjustified expense While many Indian travellers also fell into their trap the worst hit were foreigners who did not know better ldquoThese people target passengers according to the vehicle they come to the airport inA tout waits for a passenger to disembarkThe costlier the fourwheeler the harder the touts work to convince the passengers They also have ID cards around their necks which they use to lend them an air of legitimacy while they try to fool passengers by telling them that it is mandatory for them to take a trolley and their service for which they charge anywhere between Rs 100 to Rs 500rdquoThe identity card used by the men to lend them an air of legitimacyIllegal but justifiedThe group of 40odd men who belong to the Vande Mataram Kaamgaar Sangathan and dress mostly in white justify what they do by claiming that this is their only source of livelihood Dinesh Wadia leader of the Sangathan said ldquoWe had been working at the airport even before GVK took over the terminalsIn June midday had reported how some airport and airline staff inside the international airport were hiding trolleys and demanding as much as 20 Rs 1200 from passengers just to help them get to the exit or to their vehiclesWe agree that we are not operating legally inside the airport premises but the airport officials should accept us and include us in the security staff since we have been working here since the Airport Authority of India handled the city airportrdquoTussleOn Thursday around 230 pm an argument broke out between the security firm hired by GVK and the members of the Sangathan ldquoThese men a few of whom drink and do drugs have been fooling the passengers This puts pressure on us They also hold up passengers while trying to convince them and that leads to a traffic logjam in the departure areardquo An official from the ground staff said ldquoThe men have become an irritant for all of us If we try to take action against them they take the help of the local authorities and evade itrdquoOfficialspeakSpeaking to midday Senior Police Inspector of Airport police station Rajendra Nagbhire said ldquoThis is the internal matter of GVK and the Sangathan and GVK should ensure that these men do not operate on the airport premisesHowever crime from these men has increased a lot as they drink and do drugs on duty We are working on the issuerdquo The official spokesperson of MIAL said ldquoMIAL is committed in its endeavour to provide the best passenger experienceAlso read Caught in the act T2 tout gets marching ordersTo eliminate incidents like these we are actively working with the support from state and central security agencies We request passengers to immediately inform the nearest security staff member or the airport officer in case anyone approaches them with unsolicited demands at the airportrdquo